


Scales and Tails. Feathers and Fluff.

by Moomo



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Animals, Cats, Cows, Dogs, Family Bonding, Family Fluff, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, I can't believe that cows is actually a tag, Pets, chapters not in chronological order
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-09
Updated: 2017-04-19
Packaged: 2018-07-14 03:01:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7150370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moomo/pseuds/Moomo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Corrin and her relationship with the animals of the Fire Emblem universe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Wyverns

**Author's Note:**

> The product of me not having enough work to do at work (watch me jinx myself with this and regret it). Coincidentally, I work with animals!

Corrin is not having a great day, which is saying a lot considering the fact that all of her siblings are staying at the Northern Citadel for the weekend. Normally, Corrin’s greatest source of joy are her precious siblings’ visits, but today her dearest older sister, Camilla, had brought that _thing_ with her.

 

The _thing_ ’s name is Marzia, and she is Camilla’s new baby wyvern. She is about the size of Gunter’s dog, but Marzia is all scales and teeth whereas the old dog is a furry little happy critter. When little Corrin squeals with joy at her siblings’ arrival and runs up to greet her older sister, expecting a hug, Marzia intercepts her with a full body tackle, knocking Corrin to the ground. Clearly pleased with herself, Marzia throws her awful scaly head back and shrieks in some sort of deranged wyvern laughter.

 

“Oh my,” Camilla giggles, bending down to pick up her baby sister. “My darling Corrin, this little monster-” Camilla pauses to scratch the overgrown lizard affectionately “-is my new mount, Marzia. Won’t you say hello dear?”

 

Corrin does not want to say hello. Corrin wants nothing to do with this ugly looking creature that she highly suspects is planning to eat her. But Camilla is looking at her with those expectant eyes, and she would hate to disappoint her older sister.

 

Corrin puffs out her chest, hoping this will make her look bigger to the scaly beast, and offers out a tiny little chubby hand as if she expects the wyvern to shake it, “Hello Marzia, my name is Corrin.”

 

Marzia looks at the fleshy creature in her mistress’s arms. Her beady little eyes flicker from Corrin’s face to her outstretched hand. Marzia tilts her smooth head and makes a little throaty noise of confusion before lunging forward and engulfing Corrin’s entire arm into her dragon mouth.

 

Corrin wails and bursts into tears. 

 

~

 

After the disastrous meeting in the courtyard, Corrin was whisked away to the infirmary and Marzia confined to the stables. Luckily, Marzia just gave Corrin a little “love bite” as Camilla called it, and there was barely a scratch on the princess. Unfortunately, the courtyard incident was enough to convince Corrin that Marzia is a people-eating monster. When Camilla had suggested another meeting before dinner, Corrin puffed up her cheeks, crossed her little arms, and yelled “no!” But this answer seemed to have upset her darling older sister, so much so that Camilla skipped dinner entirely.

 

Now sulking in her room instead of sleeping as she ought to, Corrin feels like she’s disappointing Camilla who so clearly loved Marzia and wanted Corrin to bond with the wretched beast. Corrin hates disappointing anyone, especially her older sister; what if Camilla got so sad that she wouldn’t come visit Corrin as often? Alarmed at that thought, Corrin bolts out of bed. She had to make friends with that wyvern this very instant!

 

Corrin sneaks out to the kitchen in her pajamas and tucks a little leftover ham in them. Last time she came to visit, Camilla had read little Corrin a story about a baby wyvern who ate a bear and a pig and a donkey before exploding. Ham came from pigs and as long as she didn’t feed Marzia a pig or a donkey, Corrin reasoned, she would be happy and not explode (as appealing as that thought was).

 

Walking into the stables, Corrin reluctantly approaches the lone baby wyvern. Marzia is tied to a pillar that is furthest from any mammalian lifeforms that could be eaten. Summoning up all her courage, Corrin sidles up to the wyvern.

 

“Hello Marzia,” Corrin squeaks. The wyvern tilts her head and makes a throaty coo before opening her terrible mouth and moving her scaly face towards Corrin.

 

Corrin squeals and falls backwards onto her butt, clearly alarmed by the proximity to the maw of the Marzia monster. Marzia continues to open her mouth in Corrin’s general direction.

 

“Are you hungry?” Corrin ventures. She fishes the ham out of her pocket and presents it to Marzia. Before she can drop it, Marzia snatches the ham out of Corrin’s tiny hand. Frightened, Corrin begins to cry again.

 

“You big meanie,” Corrin sniffles. “I hope you eat a bear and a donkey and explode into a million pieces!” Satisfied with her trash talk, Corrin resumes sobbing at the wyvern.

 

Marzia seems perplexed by the sniveling man spawn that her mistress seems so fond of. She crawls forward on her gnarled claws and leans her face in very close to sobbing child. Tilting her head again, Marzia makes a curious little chirp. Noticing the scaly face very close to her own sobbing one, Corrin is scared into silence. The small child makes tense eye contact with the small wyvern. After what feels like an eternity, Marzia seems to have reached some sort of conclusion in her reptilian brain. Straightening her head and emitting a strange little purr, Marzia opens her mouth again and licks the entirety of Corrin’s face with her forked tongue.

 

“Ewwww,” Corrin squeals. Delighted by this, Marzia knocks Corrin flat onto her back. Crawling over the child, the wyvern covers Corrin’s face in slimy kisses. Squealing with laughter now instead of fright, Corrin tries to cover her face with her chubby little hands. Eventually Marzia stops her licking in order to wrap herself around the tiny child. Exhaustion catching up to her, Corrin yawns. Marzia is warm to the touch, and her scales are still the soft ones of a juvenile wyvern. Making herself comfortable, Corrin tucks herself into the warm wyvern body and the two fall asleep curled up around each other.

 

The next morning, Camilla finds her sister and her wyvern wrapped around each other, deep in their dreams, and she nearly bursts with joy at the adorable image they make.


	2. Old Dogs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Corrin learns to walk with the help of an old friend

Corrin stares intently at the large fluffy thing sprawled out in the corner of her play mat; the fluffy creature is much larger than her infant self. Ever-curious, Corrin crawls up to the giant fluff’s back and pats the animal’s fur with her chubby little hands.

 

The furry animal in question is actually King Sumeragi’s Akita dog, old enough that the fur around his once fawn muzzle has faded to white. The old dog’s name is Mr. Misa, and he has been the furry caretaker to all of the Hoshido royal children. Ever patient, the old dog looks over at his newest charge, little Corrin, and sighs.

 

This newest human puppy is quite peculiar, Mr. Misa notes; she’s whelped from a that new woman in the court, Mikoto. Ever since Mikoto’s arrival, Mr. Misa has noted that Queen Ikona has become rather prickly to master Sumeragi. The old dog snorts and shakes his head, Mikoto, isn’t like the other court concubines. Mikoto is sharper than most humans, and every minute action she performs simply oozes the sort of refinement that indicate superior breeding. Master Sumeragi should’ve known better than to welcome a second queen into the castle while the current queen is still reigning. Foolish humans, either way Mr. Misa has been given another little charge, and he resigns himself to another few years of getting his ears and tail pulled.

 

Mr. Misa turns his attention to the human pup; the little monster is now crawling up towards his face. Sighing deeply, Mr. Misa stretches his neck in order to get a good whiff of Corrin’s scent. Mr. Misa isn’t quite sure who sired the human pup (definitely not Master Sumeragi, the old dog confirms with his nose), but whoever the sire was, he was certainly not like any human Mr. Misa’s ever met. No matter, the old dog thinks. Whatever charges he is assigned, he takes care of, no questions asked.

 

Currently, baby Corrin is caught up in peering at the face of her new found fuzzy playmate. Leaning forward, Corrin grabs at Mr. Misa’s big wet nose. Preferring not to have his nose squeezed, Mr. Misa rolls away from Corrin before standing and stretching. Squealing in delight, baby Corrin chases after the dog on all fours. Plopping herself on her butt in order to face the dog, Corrin squeals again and reaches her hands out. Sighing again, Mr. Misa leans down and licks the human pup’s face. Ecstatic, Corrin squeals yet again; Mr. Misa winces and flattens his sensitive ears down against his skull. Unperturbed, Corrin reaches forward with open hands. Humoring the human pup, Mr. Misa leans down; seeing an opening, Corrin surges forward and grabs the dog’s pointy triangular ears. Mr. Misa puts up with this indignity until Corrin moves forward to mouth at the plush ears. Drawing the line, Mr. Misa stands upright again which causes Corrin to let go of his ears and plop back down on her butt.

 

Puzzled, Corrin looks at the big fluffy dog. Deciding to try again, the baby crawls again towards Mr. Misa. This time, Corrin reaches the butt end of the dog and grabs for his tail. Deciding to tolerate the grabby little hands, Mr. Misa lowers his proud curled tail in order for Corrin to seize it in her tiny little baby hands. Content, Corrin moves the fluffy tail to her mouth and immediately begins to gum at it. Displeased, Mr. Misa snorts. However, looking over his shoulder, Mr. Misa notes how content Corrin looks, and he ultimately decides to let the human pup continue to gum at his precious tail.

 

After gumming away to her heart’s content, Corrin drops the soggy tail and turns her attention back to the face of the furry beast. Crawling to the front end of Mr. Misa, Corrin coos at the old dog. Turning his attention to the human pup in front of him, Mr. Misa cocks his head to the side, what did the human pup want?

 

Thinking back to his time with the other children, Mr. Misa wonders if it was almost time for this new pup to begin the strange two-legged gait typical of all humans. Curious, Mr. Misa backs up out of Corrin’s reach. Displeased, the infant begins to crawl again, but Mr. Misa intercepts Corrin by moving his muzzle under her small torso. Gently, Mr. Misa lifts his head, forcing Corrin onto her back legs in order to stand.

 

Now upright, Corrin is directly facing the old Akita. Confused, Corrin immediately clutches both hands onto the doggie jowls just within reach. Mr. Misa nuzzles his muzzle up against Corrin’s face in encouragement. Slowly, the old dog takes a small step back, as his furry face moves away from her own, Corrin lifts one chubby leg and takes her first step. Puzzled, Corrin continues to grip Mr. Misa’s jowls and take her first stumbling steps with the old nanny dog.

 

After a full lap around the play mat, Corrin loosens her grip on Mr. Misa’s face. Seeing an opportunity, Mr. Misa twists his face out of Corrin’s infant grip. Alarmed, Corrin cries out, reaching out to try and reclaim her grip on the doggy jowls. Moving just out of her infant range, Mr. Misa whines out in encouragement. Nervously, Corrin lifts her chubby little leg again; she moves the leg forward, sets it down, and takes her first step unaided only to fall down onto her butt right after. Okay, maybe a bit too early to walk alone, Mr. Misa notes.

 

Scrunching up her face, Corrin is just about to burst into tears, but Mr. Misa is there licking her face before she can. Soothed, Corrin calms down. Tears adverted, Mr. Misa moves forward and offers the plush fur covering his ribs to Corrin. Grabbing the fur, Corrin pulls herself onto her feet. Patiently, Mr. Misa begins to slowly walk forward again with Corrin clumsily but surely learning to walk beside him.

 

Later, Mikoto will walk into the playroom and see her daughter practicing walking with her hands fisted into Mr. Misa’s fur. Smiling, Mikoto will lean against the doorframe and chuckle when the old dog sheepishly looks at her, embarrassed to be caught in such a tender moment.  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As a note, it is never really safe to leave a child and animal together unsupervised unless you are absolutely sure that animal has a bomb proof temperament, and parents should teach their kids to respect animals (no tail or ear pulling). That being said, I have a friend who learned how to walk the same way that little Corrin did in this chapter.


	3. Kittens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More accurately, Kittens and Jakob.

Corrin’s favourite place in the whole Northern Citadel is the barns. The barns are full of horses, the odd falicorn, and some ruddy little mousing cats. The company of animals, Corrin finds, is much preferable to the company of the tutors and servants in the castle; they’re always scolding her for not wearing shoes or stealing sweets from the kitchen (just a few though). No one in the castle wants to play with little Corrin except Gunter, but the old knight is often rather busy. There is a new butler though, a boy named Jakob who is just a little older than herself, but Corrin is too frightened by his icy glare and sharp tongue to pursue a friendship.

 

At the moment Corrin’s dearest friend is Mittens. The barn’s newest mouser, Mittens is a sweet little tuxedo kitten with dainty white socks to match her bib. Corrin nabs a saucer and a small jug of milk from the kitchens before scurrying off to the barn to play with little Mittens.

 

“Mitt-Mitt,” Corrin calls out for her four legged friend. “Mittens I bought you a treat!”

 

Corrin swishes the milk around in the jug a little, and Mittens comes running. The little kitten butts her head on Corrin’s knee and lets out a little purring trill. Giggling, Corrin sets down the saucer and pours the contents of her little milk jug in it. Pleased with the offering, Mittens eagerly laps up the rich cream. Corrin sits next to Mittens and begins to pet the little kitten while humming a little under her breath.

 

“What do we have here?”

 

Startled, Corrin jumps up, whips around, and comes face to face with Jakob.

 

“I was just-”

 

“Aww, does little lady Corrin come out to make friends with animals because no human wants to be her friend?” Jakob teases rather cruelly.

 

Hurt and frightened, Corrin beings to tear up. “No! Gunter’s my friend.”

 

“Wrong!” Jakob taunts. “He’s your knight. He only takes care of you because he’s paid to. He doesn’t really like you. No one likes you! Your own father sent you here to live because he doesn’t like you either!”

 

Corrin is unable to feign bravery any longer and bursts into tears. Satisfied with the depth of his cruelty, Jakob sneers.

 

Mittens perches at Corrin’s feet, forgotten by everyone. Looking up at her friend and the new comer, Mittens feels confused. The human kitten (Corrin, she believes the kitten’s name is), a dear friend and playmate, seems rather distressed and almost pained by this new face in the barn. Mittens might only be a little kitten but she knows a thing or two about loyalty and friendship, and friends stand up for each other. Hissing, Mittens lunges at Jakob. Surprised and alarmed, Jakob lifts his right arm to shield his face from the pouncing ball of fluff. Mittens sinks her little kitten teeth and claws through Jakob’s shirt and into his yielding flesh before hissing again and running off to somewhere else in the barn.

 

Jakob squeals in a mixture of shock and pain, clutching at his now bloody forearm. The attack has startled Corrin out of her crying, and she is now free to turn attentions to the injured boy in front of her.

 

“Can I see?” Corrin ventures, reaching out for Jakob. Untrusting, Jakob shies away from her.

 

“I promise I won’t hurt you,” Corrin swears, eyes wide and trusting. Jakob yields and offers up his arm, and little Corrin rolls up the sleeve of his injured arm with a great gentleness.

 

“Oh my,” Corrin gasps as she takes stock of the injured arm. “Mittens got you good! Stay right here! I’ll go get some bandages and water.”

 

Jakob sits on dusty barn floor as Corrin scurries off, still clutching at his arm; the pain is sharp and his arm throbs. Jakob didn’t really mean the awful things he said to Corrin. If anything, Jakob is the one in the castle that no one likes. A rude and untalented little boy, Jakob found himself abandoned by his own parents. Taken in by Gunter, the staff at the Northern citadel find him equally as annoying and useless, a charity case, they whisper behind his back. Jaded and hurt, Jakob had taken it out on poor little Corrin, the only one in the citadel (aside from Gunter), that had shown him even the smallest of kindnesses.

 

“I’m back,” Corrin announces. She has with her a roll of bandages and a basin of water. “Give me your arm.”

 

Taking a seat next to Jakob, Corrin is gentle and tender as she washes the blood and cleans the cuts. As the water in the basin turns red, Jakob wonders how Corrin can be so kind to him after he was so cruel to her. Maybe she’s just tricking me, Jakob reasons; but as he looks into Corrin’s eyes and sweet face, he only sees kindness and innocence. Jakob feels absolutely awful now, full of guilt and shame, undeserving of such compassion and care. As Corrin finishes bandaging up his arm, she presses a little kiss on the bandage, over where she approximates Jakob’s injuries to be.

 

“Camilla always kisses my cuts and scrapes,” Corrin explains with a smile. “She says love makes them heal faster, so I kissed all your owies so they’ll heal really fast!”

 

Jakob breaks out bawling, unable to bottle up his feelings. Seeing this, Corrin pulls Jakob into her arms in a tight hug.

 

“What’s wrong?” Corrin whispers. “Does it really hurt? Do you want to go to the infirmary?”

 

“No,” Jakob answers, his voice nasally and tight.

 

Corrin pulls away and studies Jakob’s face for a while before reaching a conclusion.

 

“Here,” Corrin stands up and offers her hand to Jakob. “I’ll show introduce you properly to Mittens. She was probably just scared because she’s never seen you before, but Mittens is a really sweet kitty once you get to know her!”

 

Taking Corrin’s hand, Jakob rises.

 

“We’ve never really been properly introduced before,” Corrin realizes aloud. “My name is Corrin, but you probably already knew that.”

 

“I’m Jakob,” Jakob answers dumbly, still struck by Corrin’s sweet and loving nature.

 

“Nice to meet you!” Corrin grins. “Let’s be friends Jakob!”

 

“Okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact, adult cats (and all other mammals except humans) are lactose intolerant. I only feed barn cats lactose free milk replacer (the same stuff we give to the dairy calves on barn).


	4. Cattle Beasts of the Milking Variety

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "MooMooMotherFucker"
> 
> -The Cows (probably)

It takes approximately ten minutes for Corrin to decide that she hates cows. Currently, she is seated on a milking stool and milking a cranky old cow when the old bitty lifts her back leg ever so casually and kicks over the milking pail emptying the past half hour of Corrin’s work on the barn floor. Ever so pleased with herself, the old cow leans over and takes a bite of Corrin’s hair.

 

“Damnit all!” Corrin curses, standing up and jerking away from the wet eyed cow. Unknown to Corrin, her hair takes the shape of an interesting half-mowhawk now once she wrestles it out of the cow’s jaw; the cow’s spit apparently a great hair gel. Corrin stares at the spilled milk, the cow, and then back at the milk. “I’ll turn you into a steak!”

 

For her part, the cow merely gazes a Corrin, a wet-eyed doopy look, before turning around and chewing her cud. Corrin contemplates turning into a dragon to rampage a little, scare the cows into behaving, but she wisely decides against that idea lest everyone in the realm become aware of her inability to complete the simple task of milking. Sighing, Corrin collects the empty milk pail before running off to find Jakob; he always had better luck with the cows anyways.

 

As Corrin wanders through the Astral plane, she becomes increasingly aware of everyone whispering amongst themselves as she passes them. Feeling self-conscious, Corrin adjusts her amour, shifting the empty milk pail from arm to arm.

 

“Umm, Corrin?” Azura pips up, approaching the princess as she passes by. Reaching towards Corrin’s face, Azura picks at the odd hairstyle that the old cow had managed to give Corrin. “What happened to your hair?”

 

Gasping, Corrin ignores Azura’s inquiry as she runs to the nearest reflective surface, a trough of water for the horses. Studying her reflection, Corrin is mortified as she runs her hand along the disaster of her hair. Corrin whirls around and notices the other members of her army sniggering a little behind their hands before jerking her face back in embarrassment.

 

“That’s it! It’s steak for dinner tonight!”

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dairy cows are currently ruining my life, true story yo.


	5. Wyverns 2.0

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marzia again

Camilla grins as she watches her little sister play with her Marzia. Both dragons frolic freely through a wide-open meadow.

 

Corrin is in her draconic form rearing up as Marzia swings her head at the princess playfully. Seeing her chance, Corrin sploots onto the wyvern, pinning her down playfully.

 

“Be gentle with little Marzia there Corrin darling,” Camilla chides with no real firmness. Both dragons ignore her.

 

Marzia manages to squirm out from under Corrin with a playful shriek. Whipping around, the wyvern dips her head playfully, butting Corrin’s side with her horns. Corrin returns the gesture, locking her much longer horns with Marzia and pushing back. Corrin’s tetrapod build gives her an advantage over Marzia’s bipedal stance.

 

After losing some ground, Marzia breaks the horn lock by taking off into the air. For her part, Corrin gazes at Marzia buoying herself in the air. Corrin paces back and forth, rearing up at Marzia a few times before plopping down in a dog sit and letting out a series of soft whines. Marzia returns the noises with some bubbly little chirps.  

 

Corrin is not a strong flier in her dragon form. The most she has ever managed is using her wings to give a little thrust to her jumps. Her draconic limbs are still fairly new and not easily controlled. Seeing Corrin’s dismay and confusion, Marzia lands.

 

Marzia tilts her head to the side as she studies the strange dragon standing in front of her curiously. Perhaps this new dragon friend had not yet learned how to fly? Which Marzia found ridiculous, by the way; for pity’s sake, wyverns are _hatched_ knowing how to fly. Marzia feels sorry for the poor, strange, and obviously slow creature in front of her. Marzia decides then and there that she must teach her new friend to fly.

 

Marzia lets out a firm chirp, imploring Corrin to look at her. Rearing up, Marzia makes a show of flapping her wings in a back and forth motion. Finished with her demonstration, Marzia makes encouraging bubbling noises at Corrin.

 

Corrin looks at her bony wings nervously before flapping as hard as she can. Her wings are out of sync, and Corrin looks like she’s having some sort of nervous muscle spasm. Marzia hisses, displeased; Marzia rears up again and beats her wings, more slowly this time, before imploring Corrin to try again. Corrin repeats the same motion as last time; Marzia growls in frustration.

 

“Marzia! Be patient with Corrin!” Camilla shouts from the edges of the meadow.

 

Marzia huffs, tossing her head from side to side. Corrin whines again, and Marzia is at a loss. Marzia tries very hard to remember her own mother’s methods of teaching. Marzia remembers that her clutch-mate, a male wyvern, refused to fly for the longest time. Wracking her brain, Marzia tries to remember what her own mother had done. When Marzia finally remembers, she leaps right into action.

 

Marzia takes off into the air, grabbing Corrin by her tail. Corrin shrieks and thrashes as she is lifted into the air like a mouse.

 

“Marzia! Bad girl! What do you think you’re doing?” Camilla hollers as she bolts towards her mount and her sister. “You put Corrin down immediately!”

 

Marzia ignores both her mistress’s hollering and Corrin’s cries. Corrin is surprisingly light, and it takes very little time for Marzia to ascend to a comfortable height for her purposes. At this elevation, Camilla is a mere speck on the ground, and Corrin is no longer screaming or thrashing, reduced to trembling in terror. Marzia stares down at her friend in her claws, let’s out an encouraging coo, and let’s Corrin go.  

 

Corrin screams as she plummets, wings beating the air uselessly. Marzia circles Corrin as she plummets; Marzia shrieks and demonstrates how to angle her wings in order to reduce speed and increase lift. However, Corrin is too panicked to absorb and utilize Marzia’s teachings.

 

 _This is how I die_ Corrin thinks. The ground is approaching at an alarming rate when, like magic, Corrin’s wings snap into sync. Corrin slows her descent, and eventually manages to glide in the air on the power of her own wings. Barking in joy, Corrin dives and catches herself in the air. Corrin uses her new-found skill to flap over to Marzia, proud and showing off.

 

However, Corrin tires quickly, as flight is still new to her. Corrin stumbles as she lands, rolling into a tangled heap of limbs; in contrast, Marzia lands softly and gracefully.

 

“Oh you scared me half to death,” Camilla pants, as she rushes up to the dragons. “Bad girl Marzia! Never do anything like that again!”

 

Marzia has the decency to lower her head in shame, grumbling softly as if apologizing.

 

“And Corrin,” Camilla turns to address her sister, “I’m so proud of you! What a good job you did today! My very own flying sister!”

 

Corrin untangles herself and manages to rise. Shaking herself off, Corrin turns to Marzia and chirps.

 

_Thanks friend._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this is Corrin, my flying sister.


End file.
